Here's the first NHL point for Haula, who was drafted by Minnesota in the seventh round (182nd overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft:

Three former Gophers played in the Wild/Avalanche game with Keith Ballard (Minnesota) and Erik Johnson (Colorado) joining in on Haula's debut. Johnson assisted on the eventual game winner and finished the contest +2 with two blocks and two hits. Ballard contributed a pair of blocks and a hit in the loss for the Wild.

A native of Pori, Finland, Haula totaled 124 points (42-82--124) in 114 career games for the Gophers from 2010-13 and was the first Gopher since Ryan Potulny (2003-06) to finish his collegiate career with an average of more than a point a game. The forward ranks 49th all-time at Minnesota in scoring.

The forward led Minnesota in scoring each of the last two years as the Gophers earned two-straight MacNaughton cups as Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) regular-season champions and two NCAA tournament berths including the team's run to the Frozen Four in 2011-12.

Haula improved his offensive performance in each of his three seasons with Minnesota, starting with a 24-point freshman campaign in 2010-11. Haula's sophomore season saw the forward lead Minnesota in scoring with 49 points and a career-high 20 goals as the Gophers captured the team's first MacNaughton Cup since 2006-07 and returned to the NCAA Frozen Four for the 20th time in program history and the first time since 2005.

In his final season with the team, Haula served as an alternate captain and recorded Minnesota's first 50-point season since 2005-06, finishing the season with a career-best 51 points and 35 assists. An All-WCHA Second Team selection in 2012-13, Haula recorded 19 power-play points to spark the nation's best team on the advantage. Minnesota, which added a second-straight MacNaughton Cup in 2012-13, also led the nation in scoring offense during Haula's final two seasons with the program.

The Gopher men's gymnastics season is right around the corner, and the team is preparing to build on last season's success. Check out a video of senior Steffen Beck's straight body planche on rings.

Beck missed the 2013 season after suffering a season-ending injury prior to the start of the season. As a sophomore in 2012, Beck competed on pommel horse and rings in every meet. He scored a career high of 14.600 on rings against Penn State.

Watch a recap of the 2013 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships held Saturday, Nov. 23, at the LaVern Gibson National Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Gopher fans can also watch a full replay of the NCAA's coverage of the 2013 championship. Catch both the men's and women's races, along with the trophy presentations.

The women's 6K race begins at approximately 82:00.

The Gophers earned a 20th-place team finish. All seven Gopher runners finished in the top 180 in a field of more than 250 of the nation's top collegiate runners. Led by senior Laura Docherty in 61st place, the top five Gophers were in the top 135 overall. Docherty earned the first top-100 NCAA finish of her cross country career to lead the Gophers in 20:58.2.

Golden Gopher goalkeeper Tarah Hobbs will participate in the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team training camp at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. from Nov. 24-Dec. 1. Hobbs is one of two goalkeepers invited to participate in the camp that will serve as training for the mid-December event as well as the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship in the Cayman Islands in January. Hobbs will journal her experiences as she participates in the weeklong camp.

Day 1: Sunday Nov. 24, 2013

It started off waking up pretty early this morning. Right when I woke up the nerves kicked in for the week to come. My parents drove me to the airport and my mom started crying which was sad but she only wants the best for me. The flight was about three hours; it took a little longer to de-ice the plane. Minnesota problems. But the plane was huge! I slept most of the way and the flight attendants were very excited when I told them I was going to this camp.

Everyone thinks I have a weird accent, and they don't believe me when I said we had snow in May or that in the spring 30 degrees is shorts weather...

Training today was pretty light, but it's a start to a long week. It's exciting and nerve racking to be here since it seems like everyone knows each other. But I have met a lot of new people in a short amount of time. The coaches have had good things to say so far, hopefully the nerves will settle down for tomorrow.

Today will be a learning curve for the rest of the week. I'm trying to move on from mistakes quicker and that will definitely need to be a focus to get through this week! It's a long road ahead full of new opportunities and experiences. I can't wait to see what this week brings.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Don Lucia Radio Show returns to the airwaves of 1500 ESPN for the 2013-14 season, airing live on Mondays during the year from the Beacon Public House inside the Commons Hotel on campus.

Join Lucia and co-hosts Wally Shaver and Jeff Dubay on Mondays throughout the season with each show airing on 1500 ESPN. Tonight's show will be taped at 6 p.m. and will air following the Minnesota men's basketball team's game against Syracuse.

This week, the Don Lucia Radio Show looks back at the Gophers' nonconference split with Minnesota Duluth last weekend and looks ahead to the first-ever Big Ten Conference league games this weekend when Wisconsin comes to Mariucci Arena.

For the second-season in a row, Beacon Public House will host a live viewing of the Don Lucia Radio Show with food and drink specials every Monday night for Gopher Hockey fans. Learn more about Beacon Public House here.

The University of Minnesota will host its final home match of the regular season as the No. 15 Wisconsin Badgers come to town. Match time is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday and will be available on Gopher All-Access.

The match also marks senior night for Tori Dixon, Alexandra Palmer and Ashley Wittman. The student-athletes and their families will be honored on the court following the match.

Wild Wednesday

General Admission tickets for Wednesday are just $4 (advance sale only). To purchase tickets in advance, go to mygophersports.com

University of Minnesota junior guard Rachel Banham was selected to write a blog for espnW, where she will give fans an inside look at her life and chronicle the Gophers' 2013-14 season. In her first post of the year, Banham talks about her family and how her brothers helped her become the basketball player she is today.

Hopkins and fifth-year seniors Kelli Budd and Laura Docherty reflect on their emotions heading into the final race of the season, and for the seniors, the final cross country race of their careers. All of the Gopher seniors hope to make their last race their best race.

Catch up on all the news around Gopher Hockey with this week's Gopher Hockey Press Report.

Reminder -- Friday's game is set for 7:10 p.m. CT on FOX Sports North PLUS (channel guide) while the series finale has been moved to Sunday at 4:10 p.m. on FOX Sports North's main channel. Both games will also be available on BTN2Go.com with Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco calling the action for both games on 1500 ESPN.

A belated congratulations to former Gopher Phil Kessel, who scored his 400th NHL point on Tuesday night. The forward tallied a pair of goals in Toronto's 5-2 win over the New York Islanders.

In 525 career games, Kessel has tallied 197 goals and 203 assists including 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in 21 games this season.

Martin Nets Game Winner, Two Points

Two former Gophers were in action last night, and unfortunately they were facing each other as Paul Martin and the Pittsburgh Penguins topped Nate Schmidt and the Washington Capitals 4-0 on the road.

Martin's first period goal -- his second of the season -- proved to be the game winner as the defenseman finished the night with two points after adding an assist later in the night. Through 20 games this season, Martin has nine points (two goals, seven assists) and needs four more points to hit 250 for his career (39-207--246 in 604 career games).

This Saturday, two 8-2 teams will meet on the gridiron in the most-played rivalry in Division I FBS football: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin. Paul Bunyan's Axe entered the scene in 1948, and the teams have played for it ever since.

Leading into the 2013 edition of the Border Battle, both the rivalry and the Gopher coaching staff have captured the media's attention. Catch up on some of the national and athletic department coverage here:

During the week...

...Coach Kill's toughness and the Gophers' unique situation were featured in:*CBSSports.com's front page, in an article by Dennis Dodd

This weekend the Gophers continue their six-game home stand
with two games against Minnesota Duluth. The Gophers will look to build off
last weekend's sweep of Minnesota State. Wednesday afternoon, coach Don Lucia and
players met with the media to discuss the upcoming matchup with the Bulldogs
and the events of last week.

"They have a lot of good young talent,"
Lucia said. "They have good team speed and their goaltending is very good."

Last
week, the Bulldogs split a two-game series in Grand Forks, N.D. Forward Seth
Ambroz knows the rivalry is one the Bulldogs have circled on their calendar.
"It is a big in-state rivalry. They are always ready to play us."

Senior Tom Serratore scored his first goal of the season in
the third period Saturday night.

"I try not to focus on [goals] to much, but it
felt great. I had a bit of a drought and you like to get on the board here and
there," Serratore said.

Coach Lucia wants to see production from everyone in
the lineup.

"If you are playing every night you have to chip in offensively. I
think he was feeling [the pressure] a little bit, and (Tommy) responded with his
best game of the year on Saturday night."

Another senior that shined Saturday night was Michael
Shibrowski. He made 25 saves on his way to earning a shutout against the
Mavericks.

"It is nice to have Mike come in and play as well as he did. It
gives him, his teammates, and coaches confidence," Lucia said. "We do not need
him to play every night, but he needs to play a handful of games, and he did a
great job in the first one."

Mike's teammates were ecstatic to see him have
success.

"He comes to the rink and works everyday. He does not have a negative
bone in his body. It is great to see him have success," Serratore said. Shibrowski
was named the Big Ten Conference's Second Star of the Week for his performance
against the Mavericks.

The series with Duluth starts Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The
contest can be seen on FOX Sports North PLUS. The series concludes on Sunday afternoon at
4:00 p.m., a contest that can be seen on FOX Sports North. Both games between
the Gophers and the Bulldogs can be heard on 1500 ESPN and BTN2Go.com will stream both games.

Only three NHL games and two former Gophers were on the schedule Monday, but Paul Martin and Blake Wheeler certainly didn't disappoint hockey fans.

Martin had an impressive 24:47 of ice time -- a game high -- in Pittsburgh's 3-1 win over Anaheim while Wheeler had two assists and this terrific shootout goal for Winnipeg in a 5-4 shootout loss to Calgary.

Catch up on media coverage the Gophers received following last weekend's series split with North Dakota. Minnesota skated to its 62nd-consecutive win with a 6-1 victory over UND on Saturday before the historic winning streak came to an end with a 3-2 loss to North Dakota on Sunday.

The Gophers are still riding a 35-game road winning streak, which began Jan. 14, 2012. Minnesota will put that streak on the line in New Haven, Conn., for a non-conference series at Yale this weekend. The teams face off at 3 p.m. CT Saturday and 11 a.m. CT Sunday. Yale is providing live video, and live audio, blog and stats will be available at GopherSports.com.

The Don Lucia Radio Show returns to the airwaves of 1500 ESPN for the 2013-14 season, airing live on Mondays during the year from the Beacon Public House inside the Commons Hotel on campus.

Join Coach Lucia and co-hosts Wally Shaver and Jeff Dubay on Mondays throughout the season with each show airing live on 1500 ESPN from 6-6:30 p.m. CT.

This week, the Don Lucia Radio Show looks back at the top-ranked Gophers' nonconference sweep over Minnesota State including Michael Shibrowski's first career shutout. The trio will also look ahead to this weekend's series with Minnesota Duluth at Mariucci Arena.

For the second-season in a row, Beacon Public House will host a live viewing of the Don Lucia Radio Show with food and drink specials every Monday night for Gopher Hockey fans. Learn more about Beacon Public House here.

Catch up on some of the media coverage of Gopher women's hockey this week. The media recapped Minnesota's series sweep over St. Cloud State last weekend, previewed this weekend's series with North Dakota and took a deeper look at the team's 61-game winning streak.

Catch up on all the news around Gopher Hockey with this week's Gopher Hockey Press Report.

Reminder both of this weekend's games against Minnesota State are slated for 7:10 p.m. CT puck drops on FOX Sports North PLUS (Channel Guide). Both games will also be available on BTN2Go.com. Friday's opener will remain on 1500 ESPN while Saturday's radio broadcast moves to MyTalk 107.1.

*Fresmen class living up to Gophers hockey hype by scoring (Star Tribune)

The top-ranked Gophers open up a six-game home stand this
weekend by welcoming Minnesota State to Minneapolis. The Mavericks were the
surprise team in the WCHA last year and beat the Gophers twice, including once
at Mariucci Arena. Gopher players and coach Lucia met with the media Wednesday
afternoon to discuss last week at Notre Dame and what to look for this weekend.

Minnesota State was picked to win the WCHA at the start of
this season and they have found recent success in Mariucci. "We are going to
have our hands full. They have good team speed. Even though their record is
4-4, I think that is attributed to injuries," Lucia said. The veteran Gophers
will know not to take the Mavericks lightly. The last 10 meeting between the
two programs have been split evenly.

Last week, the Gophers split a pair of games at Notre Dame. After
a disappointing outcome on Friday night, the Gophers responded to collect a
victory on Saturday. "I thought we did not have a good push back in the second
and third periods," Lucia said, reflecting on Friday night. "I give our guys a
lot of credit for rebounding and finding a way to win on Saturday."

This was the first week that freshman were made available to
the media. Based off their hot start, they were front and center Wednesday. "For
the most part they were all gifted scorers a year ago. That is why we put them
in positions to have success," Lucia said. The freshman accounted for all five
goals Saturday at Notre Dame.

The freshmen themselves were quick to say how the
upperclassmen have helped them learn the finer points of the college game. Hudson
Fasching has been the star of the freshman class to this point. He has 11
points on the season, which ranks second on the team. From the start of the
season Hudson has been on the score sheet playing alongside Kyle Rau and Sam
Warning, "I have worked hard and I am on a pretty good line right now,"
Fasching said. (Rau and Warning) have been tremendous, they are great leaders."

Fellow freshman Justin Kloos' strong work ethic has been
acclaimed by upperclassmen this year. Justin has stepped into the second-line
center role and has posted 10 points so far. "The older guys and captains have
led the way and allowed us to show what we are capable of," Kloos said.

Kloos' line mate Taylor Cammarata has nine points in his
last six games. He played with Kloos with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL last
year, and it has helped his comfort level as a Gopher. "It took us a little
time last year to get used to each other. It clicked about ten games in, and it
has been clicking ever since," Cammarata said.

Both of this weekend's games at Mariucci will start at 7:00
p.m. and can be seen live on FSN Plus. Friday's game can be heard on 1500 ESPN,
and Saturday you can hear Wally and Frank on MyTalk 107.1.

The NCAA Midwest Regional is 26 hours away, and the U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Assocatioin continued its preview coverage of all the regional competition today. The USTFCCCA expects host No. 7 Iowa State and the No. 16 Gophers to claim the two automatic bids, as the regional rankings indicate. From the USTFCCCA preview:

"The No. 7 Iowa State women enter as three-time defending region champions, and are the top-ranked team in this year's field. Led by Big 12 runner-up Crystal Nelson and seven top-20 finishers, the Cyclones won the conference by nearly 70 points over Texas, 35-104. Iowa State was also fifth in a very strong Wisconsin adidas Invitational field. No. 16 Minnesota is the only other nationally ranked team in the region and is in position to take one of the automatic bids, per the region rankings. The Golden Gophers were eighth at Wisconsin as one of only four teams with six or more top-80 finishers, led by 45th-place Molly Kayfes, and were third at the Big Ten Championships behind No. 6 Michigan State and No. 14 Michigan, 43-55-68."

The Gopher baseball team was well-represented at the Highland Friendship Club's Lanes for Friendship event. Pictured here with Jack Jablonski.

The Highland Friendship Club's seventh annual Lanes for Friendship event took place last weekend. Gopher baseball coaches and student-athletes attended to bowl and spend time with other participants.

Pat Leseman, the mother of former Gopher baseball player Tony Leseman, founded the HFC in 2002. From the organization's website: "The mission of the Highland Friendship Club is to serve individuals with disabilities from teens through adulthood by providing a range of opportunities to develop lifelong skills, friendships and connections within their community."

The 2014 Alumni Meet is less than two months away on Saturday, Jan. 11, and the Gopher men's gymnastics team is working hard to prepare for the upcoming season. Check out a video of senior Adam Kern doing a half set on pommel horse.

The Don Lucia Radio Show returns to the airwaves of 1500 ESPN for the 2013-14 season, airing live on Mondays during the year from the Beacon Public House inside the Commons Hotel on campus.

Join Coach Lucia and co-hosts Wally Shaver and Jeff Dubay on Mondays throughout the season with each show airing live on 1500 ESPN from 6-6:30 p.m. CT.

This week, the Don Lucia Radio Show looks ahead to Minnesota's series against Minnesota State this weekend at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers are 33-10-6 all-time against the Mavericks, who are coached by former Gophers assistant coach Mike Hastings. While the teams have met 49 times since 1998, this weekend's series marks their first meeting as nonconference opponents. The Gophers are 16-4-6 all-time against Minnesota State at home with this weekend's series kicking off a six-game, three-week home stand for Minnesota.

Tonight's show will also look back on last weekend's split at Notre Dame. Lucia, a 1981 graduate of Notre Dame, saw his squad fall 4-1 to his alma mater on Friday before rallying for a 5-4 win over the Irish in Saturday's series finale. Saturday's win marked Lucia's 350th win as head coach of the Gophers.

For the second-season in a row, Beacon Public House will host a live viewing of the Don Lucia Radio Show with food and drink specials every Monday night for Gopher Hockey fans. Learn more about Beacon Public House here.

Seven Gophers represented their respective countries as USA Hockey hosted the annual Four Nations Cup between the U.S., Canada, Finland and Sweden in Lake Placid, N.Y., this week.

The U.S. Women's National Team roster included Megan Bozek, Amanda Kessel, Gigi Marvin, Anne Schleper and Lee Stecklein. Meanwhile, Noora Räty and Mira Jalosuo were members of Finland's team.

Canada topped Finland, 6-3, in the championship game, while the U.S. took third place with an 8-1 win over Sweden. Bozek (1g-5a) was the second-leading scorer in the tournament, while Marvin (2g-2a) and Schleper (1g-1a) each appeared in all four games as well. Räty played in three games and posted a .937 save percentage for the tournament; she also recorded an assist. Jalosuo was in Finland's line up for two games, and Stecklein appeared in one game. Kessel did not play.

The U.S. Women's National Team's Bring on the World Tour continues with two games against Canada in December. The teams meet at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., on Dec. 20 before facing off at the Xcel Energy Center on Dec. 28.

The final 2014 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team, which will include 18 forwards/defensemen and three goaltenders, will be announced during the second intermission of the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2014, in Ann Arbor, Mich., live on NBC.

Catch up on all the news around Gopher Hockey with this week's Gopher Hockey Press Report.

Reminder Friday's game is set for 7 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Network with radio broadcast on MyTalk 107.1. Saturday's radio broadcast returns to ESPN 1500. Both games will be available to stream online at NBCSports.com.

Former Gopher and United States Olympian Lindsey Berg will be in attendance for the big Gopher/Nebraska match on Sunday.

Berg will sign autographs from 2:45 until the start of the match at 3:30 p.m. In between the first and second set, Berg will be honored out on the court for her accomplishments.

One of the biggest names on the international volleyball scene,
Lindsey Berg first starred as a setter for the Golden Gophers. A
three-time All-Big Ten selection, Berg was a four-year starter at
Minnesota and ranks second all-time in Big Ten history in
services aces (283) and fourth in assists (5,913). During her Gopher career, Berg helped lead Minnesota to a pair of Big
Ten runner-up finishes and NCAA Regional appearances in 1999 and 2000.
In 2000, she helped lead the Gophers to a remarkable 30-4 overall record
and their highest winning percentage in school history at .882.

Berg went on to become the first player from the Minnesota volleyball
program to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2004. She followed with two Olympic appearances in 2008 and 2012, where she helped Team USA to back-to-back silver medals. A Honolulu, Hawaii native, Berg was named USA Volleyball Indoor Female Athlete of
the Year in 2008 and 2011 and was inducted into the Minnesota Hall of Fame and the the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.

Ridder Arena was selected as one of four finalists to host the women's NCAA Frozen Four from 2015 to 2018, the NCAA announced last week. Ridder is among the three sites in contention to hold an upcoming NCAA Division III men's hockey championship as well.

The announcement came as the NCAA released a list of the host site finalists for the final round of 81 of its 89 championships for the 2014-18 championship seasons.

Along with Ridder Arena, the four finalists for the women's Frozen Four include Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., (hosted by Lindenwood/St. Louis Sports Commission); Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, N.H. (New Hampshire); and Ralph Englstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. (North Dakota).

The three venues in contention for the NCAA Division III men's hockey championship are Ridder (hosted by St. Scholastica); Herb Brooks Ice Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Plattsburgh State/Olympic Regional Development Authority); and Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, N.Y. (Utica).

The NCAA sport committees will select the winning sites, which must then be approved by the appropriate divisional championships cabinets/committees before being announced via webcast at NCAA.com on Dec. 11.

Former Gophers forward Kyle Okposo is off to a hot start this season, leading the New York Islanders with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 15 games. The forward is now skating with fellow Gophers alum Thomas Vanek on the Islanders' top line following Vanek's trade from Buffalo late last month.

Skating on the New York Islanders top line, 25-year-old Kyle Okposo is enjoying the hottest start of his career. The Isles top right winger leads the team in scoring with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) and is keeping pace with the NHL's scoring leaders.

Okposo is also the hottest Islander at the moment, scoring seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last three games. He scored multiple points in each of those games, including a three-assist effort in a 3-1 win against Boston last Saturday. At the 15-game mark, Okposo has had three, three-game point streaks.

"Our line has been pretty good with Thomas (Vanek) on it so far," Okposo said. "And playing with Johnny (John Tavares), you know you're going to get opportunities. I'm just taking advantage of my opportunities."

Okposo is making the most of playing on the top line and top power play unit, but he's also contributing to the success of his teammates. Tavares and Isles goal-scoring leader, Frans Nielsen, have benefited from Okposo's playmaking.

"I love how hard he works and how strong he is on the puck," Tavares said of the Islanders assists leader. "Being with a guy that you have confidence in going to the corners and coming out with pucks, skating through the neutral zone, carrying the play and not getting knocked off the puck, it makes the game much easier."

At 6'1, 216 lbs., Okposo has the build and power to drive to the front of the net and grind defensemen down low. What his teammates and coaches are seeing now is the confidence to impose his will in the offensive end, a confidence that stemmed from last years' stretch drive and series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It's no secret he had a good finish to the year last year and he really built off it," Tavares said. "It's really good to see him doing what he's doing. It makes our team so much better and more dangerous.

Head coach Jack Capuano said Okposo's offensive success is being driven by his play without the puck and hard work.

"He's always been a really good player," Capuano said. "When a player realizes how he has to play within the team concept and how he has to play as an individual, it's going to lead to success."

He added, "Kyle's puck protection and the way he's playing in the offensive zone is a function of him being in constant motion and moving his feet."

Last year's playoffs were also an eye-opener for Okposo, who got a taste of the intensity of playoff hockey that has motivated him ever since. He's been an everyday player since 2008-09, but Okposo changed his offseason routine this summer.

"I worked a lot this summer with different people," Okposo said."I did some different training and talked to different people about my game and skill work I had been doing. It's paying off."

He travelled to Toronto and spent a few days with Tavares, who noticed a new focus in Okposo's approach to his off-ice training regimen.

"He's become more of a guy that likes to learn and gets to know how things off the ice impact your game, instead of just going to the gym and doing what you're doing," Tavares said. "He's really gotten to understand that a lot more from what I've seen. He takes a lot of pride in that and he's not satisfied in what he's accomplished. He expects more of himself."

Sitting as the team's leading scorer and playing at over a point-per-game pace, Okposo has definitely delivered for himself and the Islanders so far this season.

No. 1 Minnesota returns to action this week with a trip to South
Bend, Ind. to take on No. 3/4 Notre Dame. Minnesota staff and players met with the media Wednesday afternoon to
discuss this weekend's difficult-road test after last weekend's bye.

Minnesota head coach Don Lucia believes the bye week came at a good time for
the Gophers.

"(The bye week) was good for us. We did have a few guys that would
not have been able to play and they are close to 100% now."

Senior captain Nate
Condon believes the team is recharged after the week off.

"A bye week always
gives guys time to hang out and rest. It gives you time to recover and bring
back that fresh lineup."

The Gophers will need a fresh lineup against a Notre Dame
team that has won 11-straight games at home dating back to last year. "This is
a veteran group," Lucia said. "They are very disciplined and pride themselves on
defense, so it will be a really good test for us."

In the last ten years, Notre Dame has evolved into one of
the nation's premier college hockey programs. Over the last few seasons, the
Irish and Gophers have developed a healthy rivalry.

"They have a lot of
talented players. Every time we play them it is something to look forward to
and one of those games you circle on the schedule," Condon said.

Coach Lucia's son, Mario, is a forward for the Irish, but
coach will try not to approach this weekend any differently. "No family
reunions. It is a business trip." Father and son did face-off last year at
Mariucci Arena with the Gophers coming out on top.

Gopher defenseman Mike Reilly is also very familiar with
Mario Lucia. The childhood friends roomed together two years ago as members
of the Penticton Vees.

"It is definitely going to be a fun experience," Mike
Reilly said. "I am looking forward to competing against him."

Friday's game is at 7:00 p.m. CT can be seen on the NBC
Sports Network. Saturday's contest will start at 6:00 p.m. CT and will be
streamed online at NBCsports.com.

Along with the Gophers' NCAA-record 59-game winning streak, the Minnesota women's hockey team also has now tied the NCAA women's hockey record for the longest home unbeaten streak.

Minnesota's 4-1 win over Minnesota State last Friday marked the team's 30th-straight victory at home in Ridder Arena. The Gophers are now tied with Harvard's unbeaten mark of 30 games set Feb. 2, 2002 to Jan. 11, 2004.

There has never been a doubt in the minds of Golden Gopher women's basketball fans that junior guard Rachel Banham is one of the best point guards in the country, and now the nation is taking notice as well. In a list of its top-five women's basketball players at each position, espnW recognized the Lakeville, Minn., native as one of the five-best point guards in the NCAA as selected by Charlie Creme, Kate Fagan, Graham Hays, Michelle Smith and Mechelle Voepel.

Banham was joined on the list by Baylor's Odyssey Sims, Oklahoma State's Tiffany Bias, Duke's Chelsea Gray and UConn's Bria Hartley, while fellow Big Ten standouts Maggie Lucas (Penn State) and Jordan Hooper (Nebraska) were listed among the top shooting guards and a small forwards, respectively.

The recognition is definitely fitting for the guard, as Banham was a WBCA
Honorable Mention All-American and First Team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore after averaging 20.7 points and 3.9 assists per game. Her points-per-game average ranked 14th overall nationally, while she was the second-leading sophomore scorer in the NCAA. Banham recorded 16 20-plus point performances and
five 30-plus point games last season, which included three 30-point outing over a four-game stretch of Big Ten contests from Jan. 28 to Feb. 7.

Banham enters her third
season at Minnesota with 1,243 career points, which ranks 14th on the
Gophers' all-time scoring list and is 151 points ahead of the total
all-time leading scorer Lindsay Whalen scored during her first two
seasons.

For the second-season in a row, Beacon Public House will host a live viewing of the Don Lucia Radio Show with food and drink specials every Monday night for Gopher Hockey fans. Learn more about Beacon Public House here.